Bottle-topping means



F. C. AREY BOTTLE TOPPING MEANS Filed July 18 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet l F. CAREY BOTTLE TOPPING MEANS Filed July 18. 19 21 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct 7 9F. C. AREY BOTTLE TOPPING MEANS Filed July 18 1921 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 5'nll F. C. AREY BOTTLE TOPPING MEANS Filed July 18. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheetir merll ofi' Fed Cid? Patented Qct. 7, i924.

LSMMB FRED C. ARE Y, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR. TO HORLICKS MALTEDCOM- PANY, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPjORATION.

BOTTLE-TOPPING MEANS.

Application filed July 18, 1921. Serial No. 485,578.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED C. ABBY, a citizen of the United States.residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Topping Means, ofwhich'the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to the sealing of bottles or jars and relatesparticularly to the. means for afiixing a label or seal to the upperedge of the bottle neck.

It is customary to put up certain materials, as for example malted milk.in large bottles or jars which are closed by a cover or rap having athreaded or similar connection with the bottle, and it is desirable tohave some means in addition to the cover for sealing the jar, this beingaccomplished with my invention by securing a label or seal of paper orother suitable material to the upper edge of the bottle neck.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide animproved meansfor sealing a bottle or 'jar;'to apply a label or seal of paper orsimilar material to the upper edge of the bottle neck so that it willadhere securely thereto; to saith: the seal to the mouth of the jar orbottle by a gum or adhesive; to withdraw the seal applying device so asto avoid displacement of the seal; and in gen: eral, to provide-animproved machine of simple form. which is capable of securely affixing aseal of paper or similar material so as to close the mouth of a jar orbottle.

On the drawings- Fig. 1 is a front view of a machine embodying myimprovements, portions thereof being broken away and shown in section soas to disclose detailsof construction;

Fig. 2, a side view of the machine shown in Fig. ,1;

Fig. 3. a top view of the sealing head with the parts which support sameshown in section;

Fig. 4. a vertical sectional view of the sealing head on the line4-4-.of Fig. 3. showing the head in the initial position ofapplyingaseal toajar;

Fig. 5. a similar view showing the head in the final position ofapplying a seal to a 1 Fig. 6. a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig.5;

Fig. 7, a bottom view of a seal applying head with the parts in theposition shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 8', an enlarged sectional view on the carries the various parts ofthe sealing device. The machine illustrated is of a duplex or doubleacting type comprising two heads indicated as a whole at 2, whichreciprocate alternately toward a pair of bottle supports 3, which arecarried upon the op- 'posite ends of a cross arm or bracket 4,

which has an intermediate portion telescoped on the post 1 and securedat the desired elevation by set screws 5. v

Each of the bottle supports 3 comprises a cup-shaped housing 6,'whioh issecured on the upper end of a sleeve 7, the latter having a reducedextremity 8 which fits in an aperture provided therefor at the outer endof the cross arm 4 so as to hold the bottle support in proper positionwith reference to the sealing head. The housing 6 is telescoped by aninverted cup-shaped casing 9 which has a plate 10 secured to the upperend by a threaded connection as shown, or

in any other convenient manner. and the plate 10 has a band 11 extendingupwardly around the edge to hold a block 12 of wood upon the upper faceof the plate 10. A spring 13 is interposed between the closed ends ofthe housing 6 and easing respectively which are held against undueseparation by a bolt 14 which has the headed end engaged with andcountersunk in the upper face of the-end wall of the cup-shaped casing'9 and the stem inserted down through the spring and sleeve 7 andprovided with a pair of lock nuts 15 on the lower end which may beadjusted to regulate the compression of the spring 13. l

The bottles or jars 16' which this machine is designed to seal are largeones such as are commonly employed to contain malted milk and'the woodenblocks 12 are large enough to accoodate one of these bottles. Tofacilitate placing the bottles in proper position 'on'the supports 3,there is a cross arm or disc 17 on the post 1 which projects a shortdistance over each of the supports 3 and is provided with an arcuateplate 18 at each end having a facing 19 of leather or similar. materialwhich fits the exterior of the bottle and is adapted tohave the latterengaged thereagainst preparatory to the performance of the sealingoperation.

Secured to the upper end of the post 1 is a large, bracket 20 which hasa pair of horizontally spaced bearings 21 in which a drive shaft 22 ismounted with. a pulley 23 fixed thereon between the bearings21 andconheated by the belt 24 to any suitable source of power. This bracket20 at opposite sides of the post 1 and directly above the bottlesupports 3, has vertically apertured hubs 25 each of which supports ayoke shaped frame 26, which has an arcuate flange portion 22' at theinner end en aged over the corresponding bearing mem er 21 of the mainbracket 20 and secured thereto by one or more cap screws 28.

A separate countershaift 29 is mounted at the upper end of eachyoke-shaped frame 26 in spaced bearings 30., and each of these shaftshasa spur ear 31 at the inner end meshing with a pinlon 32 on the mainshaft 22 whereby the countershafts are operated at a lower rate of speedthan the main shaft.

Each oke frame 26 is formed at the bot tom wit a pair of spaced flanges33, which extend between and connect the arms of the yoke and theseflanges are connected together at a point substantially between theirends by an integral transverse web 3 1: which is recessed at oppositesides to form vertical dove-tailed guide-ways 35 and 36, the

latter of which is disposed directly above the hub 25. Forconnect-ingeach frame 26' with the hub of the bracket 20 a combined keand bushing is employed having a dovetailed head 37 engaging in thelower end of the dove-tailed guide-Way 36 and a sleeve portion 38 fittinin the opening 39 in the hub 25 so as to %ock the frame 26 and hub 25together. A plunger shaft 40 extends down through the sleeve 38 and alsothrough a bearing 41 in the end of a cross arm 42 which is adj ustablysecured on the post 1 by set screws 43 and this shafthas the sealinghead 2 mounted on the lower end thereof below the cross arm 42. Theupper end of the plunger shaft 10 is threaded as at 44 and engaged in athreaded socket in the lower end of a dove-tailed block 15., which fitsin the dove-tailed guide-way 36..ot' the bracket 26 and this block isprovided at one side with a pin 46 carrying an anti friction roller 47.which engages the periphery of a cam 48 on the counter-shaft 29. Thiscam serves to force the" plunger shaft d0 downwardly to effect thesealing operation and has the roller 47 held thereagainst' by theelevating spring 49 which surrounds the shaft 40 between the hub 25 andthe bearing 11 and has the lower end bearing against the latter and theupper end bearing against a collar 50, which is secured on the shaft 4:0by the pin 51.

Secured to the lower end of the shaft 510 by the threaded connection orin any suitable manner is a shank 52 having four radially disposed setsof pivot lugs 53 and each pair of lugs has a pivot pin 54: extendingtherebetween and supporting a 'finger or lever 55, each of which abovethe pivot 54 is engaged by a thrust spring 56 seated in a socket 57 inthe shank 52 so as'to nor mallythrow the upper ends ofthe fingersoutwardly and the lower ends inwardly. The lower end of the shank 52 isformed with a reduced externally threaded extension 58 upon which a flatring 59 is engaged so as to come'tlush with the lower'face or theextension 58 and form therewith a smooth face Of a little largerdiameter than the upper'end of the bottle or jar to which the seal is tobe applied. Each of the fingers 55 has an arcuate plate 61 on the lowerend which extends substantially 90 around the ring 59 and has the. lowerface substantiaily in the same plane as the lower face of the disc'59when the lower ends of the fingers 55 are in the innermost position. Forsecuringthep-lates 61 onto the gers 55 each plate has a notch 62 in theupper face midway between the ends into which the lower end of thefinger 55 fits and there is a cap screw 63 extending through the plate61 and threaded into the lower end of the finger 55. A rubber cushioningelement 6% is secured to the under face of each plate 61 and extendsinwardly beyond the plate, as shown particularly in Figure 4, so as toproject under the ring 59 when the fingers 55 are in the normal positionand thus provide a cushion between the disc 59 and the upper edge of thebottle neck for pressing the edges of the seal 65 into sealingengagement therewith when the sealing head is forceddownwardly. Theserubber se ments 64; may be secured to the plate 61 in any convenientmanner as for example, by a number of cap screws 66, which have the headcountersunk in therubber segments and the threaded stems engaged inthreaided apertul'es invthe plates 61.

The fingers 55 are designed to be rocked on their pivots 54 after theseal is pressed onto the bottleor jar so as to move the rubber segments64 outwardly beyond the edges of the'seal to prevent displacement of theseal when the head recedes and for effecting this result, a collar orstripper ring 67 is slidably arranged on the Shank 52 and the fingers toswing outwardly under the influence of the springs 56 and the lower endsaccordlngly to swinginwardly and position the lnner'edges of the rubbersegments 64 under the periphery of the ring 59.

When, however, the ring 67 is moved downwardly over the ends of thefingers 55 the beveled face 68 forces the upper, ends of the latterinwardly thereby swinging the lower ends with the plates 61 and rubbersegments 64 carried thereby outwardly to projecting laterally therefromand carrying an anti-friction roller 75, which engages against theperiphery of the cam 76 on the countershaft 29. To confine the movementof the links 72 to an up and down direction the block 73 is bifurcatedat a. point above the pin 74 so as to straddle the shaft 29 and there isa cross plate 77, which extends between and is secured to the upperextremities of the said parts above the shaft 29.

In the operation of this device the bottle is placed on the support 3with a seal in place thereon and thesealing head 2 projected downwardlywith the parts maintained in the position shown in Figure 4, so that theinner edges of the rubber segments 64 extend under the ring 59 and pressthe edges of the seal against the mouth of the bottle. To effect thedepression of the head and maintain the parts as shown in Fig. 4, it isnecessary for the shank 52 with the fingers 55 thereon and the ring 67to move downwardly in unison and 'to acomplish'this movement the cams 48and 76 each have a corresponding rise 78 and 79 respectively leading upto corresponding arcuate faces 80- and 81 respectively, which actsimultaneously'upon the rollers 47 and to depress the shaft 40 and thelinks 72, thereby moving the entire sealing head 2 downwardly as a unitand the radius of these faces and 81 is such that the head 2 is causedto force the bottle 16 downwardly a very short distance so as tocompress the spring 13 and afford a yielding pressure for clamping theedges of the seal 65 against the mouth of the bottle. The cam faces 80and 81 are made somewhat long sons to hold the seal 65 under pressure asufficient length of time to allow the adhesive to set, after which thepressure on the bottle is released sufficiently to relieve thecompression of the spring 13 and permit elevation of the bottle supportto or substantially to the normal position, this being ef-- fected byadecrease in the radius of the cam 48 at 82 which continues to the point,83 where the cam is cut away to a short radius as shown at 84, whichpermits the spring 49 to elevate the shaft 40 and head 52 thereon. Atthe time that'the pressure on the bottle is released by the decrease onthe radius of the cam at 82 the ring 67 is forced downwardly so as toengage the upper ends of the fingers 55 and force the lower ends of thelatter-radially and thus withdraw the rubber segments 64 outwardly overthe edges of theseal 65 to the position shown in Fig. 5, so as to avoiddisplacement of the seal when the sealing head 2 is elevated'. The head2 is not elevated sufficiently during the time that the cam portion 82engages the roller 47 to withdraw the rubber segments or cushioningelements 64 from the seal 35, but these cushioning elements 64 remain incontact with the seal so that they have a rubbing contact with the seal,particularly the edge portions thereof, as they are withdrawn radiallyover the seal by the depression of the ring 67. For operating the ring67 to withdraw the segments 64, the cam 7 6 is formed at 85 with anabrupt rise or projection, which forces the roller 75 and parts to whichit is connected downwardly while the parts controlled by the cam 48remain inactive andat a point substantially in the same mdial plane withthe final extremity of theeam face 82, the face of the cam 76 recedesinwardly as at 87 to a face 88 of a radius corresponding to the face 84of the cam 48, which permits the springs 70 to withdraw the ring67 fromthe upper ends of the fingers 55 and return the fingers to the positionshown in Fig. 4 and at the same time co-operates with the cam 48 andspring 49 to return the head 2 to the elevated position to permitremoval of the sealed bottle and insertion of another bottle, whichis tobe sealed. i

The seals employed may be of paper or any other suitable material andare preferably gummed on the entire undersurface although they may, ifdesired, be provided merely with a ring of adhesive material on theunder face around the edge of suitable width to extend over the upperedge of the bottle mouth. The upper edge of the bottle neck ispreferably moistened and the seal laid on the wet surface before thebottle is placed on the support 3, although the seal itself may bemoistened instead of the bottle, if desired, or the adhesive applied tothe seal just before the sealing operation so that it is in condition tocause the seal to adhere to the mouth of the bottle when the sealingoperation takes lace.

While I have shown and described myinvention in a preferred form, I amaware that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting it'rom the principles of my invention.

\Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is d 1. In abottle sealing machine, a bottlesupport, a sectional head for pressing agummed paper seal or-the like upon the mouth of a bottle on saidsupport, means for eli'ectingthe pressure-applying operatlon of the headand means for withdrawing the head sections over and in rubbing contactwith the edge portions of the seal.

2. In a bottle sealing machine, a. bottle support, a head havinglaterally and rela-- tively movable sections forming a pressure faceadapted to press a gummed paper seal able seetions forming a pressureface adapt ed to clamp a gummed' paper seal or the like against the edgeof the mouth of a bottle on the support. means for relatively shiftingsaid support and said head to apply and then partially relieve thepressure on the seal and means for withdrawing the sections of said headover and in rubbing contact with the edge portions of the seal as thepressure is relieved.

4C. In a device of the class described, the combination of, a bottlesupport, a pressure applying member movable relatively to said supportin the direction of the axis of a bottle thereon to press a seal againstthe bottle moutl na cushioning element interposed between the ressureapplying face of said member an the bottle mouth during the pressurestroke and means for laterally withdrawing said element while inengagement with the seal.

5. In a device of the class described. the combination with a bottlesupport. a head relatively movable to and from the mouth of a bottle onthe support in the direction of the axis of the bottle to press a sealupon the bottle mouth. radially movablesections of yielding materialpositioned in front of the pressure face of said head during the saidsupport, levers pivoted on said head, a

edge of the mouth of a bottle on the support, 0

means for eliecting the pressure applying operation of the head withsaid sections in their innermost positions and means for withdrawingsaid sections outwardly while in engagement with the seal.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a yieldablebottle support, a pressure applying member adapted to engage the upperedge of the neck of a bottle on thesupport and depress the latter so asto clamp a seal between the pressure applying memberand the upper edgeof the bottle neck, means for relaxing the pressure applying member soas to permit the support to recede to normal position, segmentarycushioning means on said pressure applying member, and means forwithdrawing said segmentary cushioning means radially from the top ofthe bottle as the pressure is relaxed.

9. In a device for applying a seal to the mouth of a bottle, thecombination of a bottle support, means for applying pressure to theupper edge of .thebottle neck comprising a pressure face composed ofradially movable segments, means for projecting said pressure applyingmeans with the segments in the innermost position and subsequentlywithdrawing same radially while engaged with the upper edge of thebottle neck.

' 10. In a device for applying a seal to the mouth of a bottle. thecombination of a bottle holder, a head having a pressure face composedof segments, pivoted levers supporting till ill)

the segments to permit swinging movement thereof, a member engaging saidlevers for moving same radially. a pair of cams co-opcrating to projectthe head and said-member simultaneously toward a bottle on the holderand maintaining the segments in the innermost position. one of said camsbeing adapt ed to operate said member thereafter so as to'withdraw thesegments radially from the top of the bottle.

iao

-11. In a device for applying a seal to the mouth of a bottle. thecombination of a yieldable bottle holder. :1 head having a plurality ofoscillable members thereon carrying segments forming a pressure face.means for oscillating the levers so as to move the segments radially, apair of cams operable ing the pressure on the bottle so as to permit tosimultaneously actuate the head and'said return of the bottle holder tothe normal 30- means and thereby maintain the segments in sition andmaintain a diminished pressure on 10 the innermost position and projectsame the bottle, and means on the other cam op- 5 against the upper edgeof the neck of the erable simultaneously to withdraw the segbottle onthe support and depress the bottle ments laterally from the mouth of thebottle. holder, means on one of the cams for relax- FRED C. AREY.

